FELLSMERE — The Board of County Commissioners has approved paying the cities of Fellsmere and Vero Beach nearly $350,000 for fire hydrant maintenance without further dispute following a loss to the City of Fellsmere in court.
Without debate, the commissioners voted unanimously to pay Fellsmere about $65,000, which includes the balance of a bill the county didn’t pay to the city in 2009, attorney’s fees, and other related expenses.
“Bottom line is, Fellsmere won and we did not,” County Attorney Alan Polackwich told commissioners.
Commissioners also approved Polackwich’s recommendation to ask the City of Fellsmere to forgive the $20,500 in fines that accrued since the 2009 code enforcement case.
“This was a good faith dispute,” Polackwich told commissioners Tuesday afternoon, adding, “We are two local governments who deal with each other on a daily basis” and hopefully the city would abate the fines.
While Fellsmere pursued payment through the court system, the City of Vero Beach did not, though the county owed the city far more money.
According to the City of Vero Beach, Indian River County owes about $284,000 for fire hydrant maintenance since 2008.
Polackwich told commissioners in his agenda material that once the appellate court decided the case between the county and Fellsmere, Vero Beach renewed its request for payment on the accrued invoices.
Commission Chair Bob Solari concurred with Polackwich’s recommendation to work with the cities on coming up with a solution for maintaining hydrants in the future.
“It doesn’t make sense for us to allow a municipality to charge whatever they want – in the case of Fellsmere $225 – for something our utilities department can do for $74,” Solari said.
Fellsmere City Manager Jason Nunemaker said after the meeting that the city’s $225 charge is not something the city came up with.
“There’s nothing arbitrary about the rate,” Nunemaker said, explaining that the initial rate charged in 2009 – $170 – came from the county.
The county then challenged the rate and requested the city perform a rate fee study, which showed the city was under charging and recommended a rate of $225.
Nunemaker said he is happy the county will be paying the balance of the invoice and related fees, adding that Fellsmere staff would be recommending to the Fellsmere City Council to forgive the fines.
“I think there’s merit to that,” Nunemaker said.
As for working with the county on a long-term solution, he said it might make sense to have the Indian River County Utilities Department maintain the fire hydrants, especially if there are economies of scale that could save money.
“I think it’s something we can look at,” he said.
